Verdicts & Settlements

Medical Malpractice & Negligence

During delivery mid-wife failed to respond to developing signs of fetal distress including meconium staining and fetal monitoring strip abnormalities. Mid-wife likewise failed to react in properly securing the attendance of the obstetrician after several instances indicated that baby needed to be delivered quickly. Upon arrival obstetrician showed lack of appreciation for need of a c-section, instead trying multiple attempts at another form of delivery, when the fetus did not have that time to waste. Defense argued some pre-birth abnormalities in brain would have indicated some damage regardless. Plaintiff denied the significance of any signs of pre-birth findings, and was prepared to prove that they would not, in any significant or substantial way, be connected to the overwhelming disabilities of the child.Major defense built upon belief that injuries were so severe that life expectancy would be shorter than plaintiff predicted, diminishing the value of the projected financial needs of both family and infant. Plaintiff was prepared to prove that the care provided by the loving family and advances of available medicine, would raise life expectancy of child and that the defense should not benefit by raising speculation as to the child’s life expectancy.

In a suit filed against several surgeons, a physical therapist, a physician’s assistant and a hospital, Andrew Rockman and Peter Gordon recently achieved a settlement after several key depositions were completed.

The claim was brought on behalf of a fifty-two year old woman who developed complications following back surgery. After having a decompressive laminectomy and fusion the patient developed a pooling of blood on her spinal column. It was alleged that the various healthcare providers failed to recognize the signs of blood collection and pressure on the spinal column; increasing post-operative pain, numbness and episodes of urinary incontinence. As a result a time window was lost where a corrective procedure could been performed to relieve the pressure that was causing the patient pain and ongoing damage.

This surgical complication also known as cauda equina syndrome left the patient with significant and permanent injuries including constant pain in the area of the top of her buttocks, a lack of sensation from her waist to her toes and incontinence of bowel and bladder necessitating self-catherization.

The settlement of $1,000,000 was achieved at a relatively early stage in litigation with an expectable delay of several years before the claims could be resolved by way of trial. Mr. Rockman and Mr. Gordon were pleased to achieve settlement so quickly enabling the client to use and benefit from the settlement funds without having to wait for a trial to be reached.

In 1998, a mother was in a clinic for delivery of her child. After eleven and one half hours of non-progressing labor, with the baby not moving toward birth, the baby had to be delivered by cesarean section as a result of a compromise of the umbilical cord, blocking oxygen from the baby. Regrettably, the baby was born with significant long-term injuries and disability, related to the loss of oxygen.

Plaintiff’s claim was that the midwife, scheduled to perform the delivery, had information about the labor and some fetal monitor tracings that showed some cause for concern, that required her to have the overseeing doctor appear at the hospital to monitor what was going on and be prepared for a quick delivery. That did not happen. We were also prepared to prove that the doctor knew more than enough to require his appearance in time to be ready to perform a c-section, before it was allowed to turn into a crisis, caused by the doctor’s delayed arrival at the hospital.

The defense and disputes revolved around conflicting positions offered by the experts as to what the fetal monitoring should have been telling or alerting both the midwife and the doctor.

It was our client’s position, through the experts we retained for them, that the compromise of the umbilical cord, and oxygen for the baby, was predictable and foreseeable, and the midwife and doctor should have made sure the doctor was there to act in time, not after it was too late. The defense was that it was a sudden crisis. Our position was the crisis was sudden only to the delivery team, because they had not prepared for it, given the signs of an abnormal labor they had underevaluated.

Underlying the issues as to how the trial would be focused as between the 2 defendants, was the fact that the defendant doctor had failed to protect himself with insurance. This created a need to focus on the midwife’s conduct.

The case resolved for one million seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars, with the family deciding that that amount would permit them to take the necessary steps to provide a better environment and more support for their disabled child, without risking a verdict in the present climate of discussions about availability of medical care and the potential of a verdict against an uninsured doctor who would be unable to satisfy that verdict.

Selection of a jury had completed its second day, with significant difficulty obtaining jurors, given the holidays and the subject matter of the suit.

Andrew Rockman, a partner in Pellettieri, Rabstein & Altman, and head of our Medical Malpractice Department, was the attorney for the Plaintiff and had been preparing this case for several years, given the ongoing and changing needs of the infant. He recognized that the injuries themselves would support a very substantial verdict, but that the practicalities of a primary defendant being uninsured, along with the medical defenses, was an appropriate and reasonable basis for the family’s decision that accepting the risks of a trial, to seek a larger verdict, would not be in the best interests of the child or the mother.

Partner, Robert J. Adinolfi, was part of an 11 million dollar settlement, representing the victim of an industrial explosion that killed three workers, and injured eight others. Mr. Adinolfi argued that the blast was caused by a defective valve that caused gas to backflow into a wooden shed, where it was ignited by a propane heater or by malfunctioning electrical components. Mr. Adinolfi was able to establish that negligent design and improper precautions brought about the tragedy.

Shareholder, Robert J. Adinolfi, recently obtained a 3.25 million verdict for a man who was served while visibly intoxicated and thereafter caused a motor vehicle accident due to his drunkedness, thereby rendering the plaintiff blind and a parapeligic. After deliberating for several days, the jury rendered a unanimous verdict after it was established that the plaintiff, who had been drinking with the driver all day, was injured due to the negligent service of alcohol to a visibly intoxicated person. No offer was made to settle, and Mr. Adinolfi tried the case to conclusion, obtaining another multi-million dollar verdict for an injured victim.

After a two week trial, PR&A partner Rob Adinolfi obtained a $3.5 million jury verdict in Gloucester County for a 48 year old man in a medical malpractice action. The plaintiff, a trash collector, suffered a knee injury and was operated on by his orthopedic surgeon. After surgery, the plaintiff developed a staph infection in his knee. The jury determined that the doctor failed to treat the infection, which resulted in bone deterioration that required extensive surgery. As a result of his injuries, the plaintiff walks in a full leg immobilizer and faces possible amputation of his lower leg. Attorney Rob Adinolfi practices in the areas of medical malpractice and negligence. His email address is radinolfi@pralaw.com

A case against multiple doctors who failed to recognize and appreciate post bariatric surgery complications in a young mother of a five year girl, which complications led to the mother's death, was settled on behalf of the child for $800,000. Annuity contracts were arranged payable over the life of the child so that the little girl has a lifetime income, the ability to obtain an education and the opportunity to make her own life choices.

The plaintiff was discovered to have a mesenteric clot after having abdominal problems. She was told to take aspirin but was given no instructions about the stroke risk created by the clot and the continuation of birth control medication. She was allowed to believe the aspirin was only for her discomfort, which subsided in a week. She was not told the aspirin was in anyway designed to be taken long term to reduce the risk of serious injury. When the discomfort subsided, she stopped taking the aspirin. Plaintiffs were prepared to prove the physician did not recognize the risk of embolus and stroke and failed to take the required steps to reduce or remove that risk. Plaintiff suffered the predictable seizure/stroke and resulting disability.

The plaintiff was left with significant permanent neurological damage and disruption of her normal life. Settlement $1.2 Million dollars.

A minor-plaintiff, who suffered from chronic severe abdominal pain for a significant portion of her life, remained undiagnosed after 6 1/2 years of seeing many doctors and undergoing several diagnostic studies.

The plaintiff was finally accurately diagnosed with intestinal malrotation in November 1998, and through investigation, our medical experts opined that the intestinal malrotation was clearly discernable on radiological studies taken in May 1992 and March 1993. As a result, the plaintiff experienced a delay in diagnosis of approximately 6 ½ years, resulting in various permanent residual gastrointestinal injuries.

Emergency room physicians were found negligent in an infant mortality case after repeatedly instructing a pregnant woman complaining of severe abdominal cramping not to come to the hospital until her water broke.

Despite direction from the hospital, the woman decided to present to the hospital anyway. Upon arrival, her child was born under emergency conditions, and delivered in a depressed condition.

Four days later, on Christmas Eve, 2001, the infant died.

Our Medical Malpractice attorneys settled the case prior to trial in favor of the plaintiff for $210,000.

The negligent care resulted in an exacerbation of Lupus to Lupus Nephritis, followed by kidney failure and the need for a kidney transplant.

The defendant physician also continued to increase Plaintiff’s Prednisone dosage despite elevated creatinine, which resulted in an increased chance of infection after the operation. This put the patient at a higher risk of organ rejection as well as an increased chance of morbidity.

Congratulations to Andy, and special thanks to Rob, Colson, Kim and Marisa for their help on this case.

A woman with 2 young children followed recommended guidelines by taking mammograms and sonograms, but the radiologist failed to see obvious signs of breast cancer that the “best practices” written by specialists in his field say he should have seen. Rather than benefit from early detection treatment, her cancer will spread and she will suffer and die. This partial settlement reflects our client’s case against the radiologist. The case against her gynecologist, who allegedly had sufficient evidence to diagnose, remains active.

A mother of 2 in her early 40’s underwent a basic surgery, but suffered a stroke while under anesthesia. Had the surgeon followed the “best practices” established by fellow surgeon specializing in his practice area, the stroke would most likely never have happened. Our medical malpractice attorneys leveled the playing field with the insurance company; so qualified surgical specialists could tell our client’s story to a jury and enforce the laws that protect both patients and the majority of doctors who do follow best practices.

The doctor treating an Alzheimer’s disease patient over an eight-month period frequently phoned in prescriptions for debilitating drugs without visiting his patient first or during treatment to evaluate the effect of the drugs. Allegedly, he also billed insurance visits. The jury held the “telephone doctor” accountable.